Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s Address on the occasion of the launch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
President of World Economic Forum , MrBorgeBrende, honourable members of the industry, other guests from across the globe and dear friends! I welcome you all on this special occasion and am indeed grateful to all of you for sparing your valuable time to be here. It is an honour for me that WEF found me worthy to be included in the launch event of India’s first and world’s fourth Centre of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Friends, Industry 4.0 is not just about industry but also its components which are surely going to be a game-changer for the humanity in future.
The way the disruptive and interconnected technologies are emerging in today's global scenario, it is unprecedented. This collaboration and convergence of varied technologies form the basis of Fourth Industrial Revolution. Various dimensions of these technologies are touching every aspect of the lives of people and transforming the way they work and communicate with the whole world. Given this senario, the opening of such an important centre in India after San Francisco, Tokyo and Beijing certainly opens up upboundless possibilities for the future.
I congratulate and thank the World Economic Forum for such a pathbreaking initiative. I am sure all of you can see how Fourth Industrial Revolution is impacting lives of people all over the world. Being experts in this field all of you are mindful of the nuances of it. It is very important for all of us to understand why this revolution is important to India, and why India has the potential today to take full advantage of this revolution.
India has a robust ecosystem which has potential to use emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence , Machine Learning, Internet of Things , Blockchain, Big Data, and it can catapult India's development to new heights by creating millions of new opportunities of employment. We are capable of improving the life of every person in the country. Indian youth with decades of experience in the field of information technology are leveraging from the vibrant eco system of startups. Today, while India is moving ahead with the resolve of a New India by strengthening its power and resources, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is indeed an icing on the cake.
India not only sees this as a change in the industrial senario, but as a catalyst to change its social fabric. While Industry is a platform, production is a process and technology is a tool, but its ultimate goal is to benefit and transform the marginalised and the outliers of the society.
Friends, I am visualising the strengths in the Industry 4.0 which can eliminate many weaknesses related to the social and economic system forever. India is slated to witness an e-reversible positive change. I firmly believe that using Industry 4.0 can play a pivotal role in eradication poverty in India. The poor, deprived and marginalised sections of the country can benefit from this revolution. E-revolution can help us a lot in the escalating the speed and scale of development which we need to work on in a vast and diverse country like India.
Friends, without a strong foundation no infrastructure can stand firmly. The success of Industry 4.0 is largely dependant on how ready and prepared a country is to support the revolution strongly. Today, I am proud that in the last four and a half years our government has taken several important initiatives towards preparing India for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and has achieved great success in its endeavors. I would like to present in detail the reasons of my enthusiasm and confidence before you.
Friends, with respect to Industry 4.0, if you remove just one word, it loses its meaning. And that word is digital; a word which has become synonymous with the emerging New India. The Digital India campaign has taken the telecom data accessibility to the nook and corner of the villages of India. In the past four-and-a-half years, the government has taken the initiative to strengthen the country's telecom infrastructure by investing six times more than before in this infrastructure.
Friends, while there were only 70 million people in India with a digital identity in 2014, today more than 120 million people of India have Aadhar card, their digital identity. In 2014, India had less than eight lakh mobile based trans-receiver stations.Today their number has exceeded 18 lakhs. In 2014, the total tally density was 75% which has increased today to 93%. While, the number of mobile internet subscriptions in India was 23 crores at that time, today it has more than doubled to above 50 crores. In the last four years, internet coverage has increased by more than 75%. In these years, the Government of India has laid out more than three lakh kilometers of optical fiber.
This is a result of robust engagement of local administrative infrastructure. Prior to 2014, only fifty Panchayats of the country were connected by optical fiber whereas today more than one lakh panchayats are connected. Very soon we are going to achieve the goal of connecting all the 2.5 lakh panchayats in the country with optical fiber.
Friends, there were only 83 thousand common service centers in the country before 2014. Today there are more than three lakh common service centers in India. In the rural areas of the country, the government is working to provide more than 32,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in the remote areas. The Digital India campaign has changed the way in which Indians have lived in the last four years.
Friends, such is the impact of Industry 4.0, an Indian citizen is using more than thirty times more mobile data than what was available in 2014. It is also interesting that today, while the highest mobile data consumption in the world is reported in India, the cheapest data in the whole world is also available in India. This is because after 2014, the value of mobile data in India has decreased by more than ninety percent.
Friends, nowhere in the world have you heard of such a compelling growth story. It is indeed an unprecedented journey fro 2014. Today India is reckoned as one of the world's largest digital infrastructure countries. Unique interfaces like Aadhaar, unified payment interface i.e. UPI, e-sign, e-national agricultural market ie ENAM, government e-market place i.e. GEM, digi-locker are helping India become a technology leader through Artificial Intelligence. Due to these, more and more people are increasingly connecting with digital technology. India's digital infrastructure has given the country's startups the opportunity to innovate on these platforms. These innovations are also working to strengthen the country's MSME sector.
Friends, India has already developed a national strategy to prepare for the development of AI research based robbers eco system in India. Following the vision of inclusive growth “sabkasath, sabkavikas”, the government has now given a call of “Artificial Intelligence for all”. The important topics have already been addressed in detail as to how the research eco system shall be created, adaption of it be promoted and the relevant skilling challenges shall be dealt with.
Special attention has been given to those sectors which are also associated with the Indian public, such as agriculture, health and education. In these areas, the government has initited work on several pilot projects. Aligned with the same, we have recently organized a big conference in India on Mobility.
This new WEF Center in Mumbai will work to consolidate this initiative further. These centers will take forward the vision of inclusive growth and motivate and complement the efforts being made in this direction of “sabkasath, sabkavikas”. This center will help design the policies of the government around new emerging technologies. It will also help the public sector and private sectors of India. It will certainly awaken new consciousness in the work of various state governments to help in fostering new dimensions of industry 4.0.
I am told that this Centre in collaboration with Government of Maharashtra, has started working on a DRONE and IoT projects to improve government services. And for this proactiveness, I congratulate the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. I hope that many such projects will start in every state in the days to come.
Friends, in India, with the strengthening of Industry 4.0 coupled with the expansion of AI, our people will get better and affordable health care facilities. By extending it to the agricultural sector, the yield of farmers on one side will increase, while wastage of grains will stop. Thus, their incomes will also increase. This technique can help the farmers of India to make the right decision by being well informed about the weather, crop and seed sowing cycle. The Centre is slated to strengthen the 21st Century infrastructure like Smart cities, and also help to increase the connectivity between villages of the country.
The centre shall also address concerns related to solutions for Smart Mobility, transportation and even how to get rid of the problem of jams in cities. Our country is endowed with linguistic diversity, and with the help of AI, the exchange of ideas in different dialects and languages will be possible now. .
In the same way, AI with its multiple uses can enhance the capabilities by providing a solution to several day to day problems faced by my specially-abled brothers and sisters in India.
Friends, work has already begun at different levels o address these concerns. This also integrates the aim of “Solve for India, Solve for the world”. We are also advancing from local solution towards global application. The role of another technology is very important, and that is Block chain. This technology enhances and propels the vision of “minimum government, maximum governance”. With this technology, self governance and self certification are being expanded and future prospects are being explored. All government procedures, conflicts, bottlenecks can be overcome with its help. Improvement in these processes will increase transparency, reduce corruption and crime, and hence improve the ease of living of our country men.
Friends, the expansion of the Block chain technology has the potential to push India up in the “Ease of doing Business” global ranking as well. All the services of the government, management of natural resources, registration of property, contract, power connection, and so many other kinds of administrative work can be accelerated with its application. In the wake of this, India is also working to create a national strategy on the use of Block chain. WEF center in Mumbai shall also be assisting in this.
I would also like to inform you that India is going to announce its Drones policy very soon. Friends, when the first industrial revolution happened, India was a slave. Even during the second industrial revolution, India was still a slave. When the Third Industrial Revolution took place, India was struggling to deal with the challenges faced post independence. But now the 21st century India has changed. Today, with full confidence, I can say that the power of 130 million people of our country, India will not be deprived of the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution. I strongly believe that India's contribution in the fourth industrial revolution will astonish the whole world; An unprecedented, unpredictable, unimaginable contribution will be from India.
Our diversity, our demographic potential, fast growing market size and digital infrastructure have the potential to make India a global hub of research and implementation. The benefits of innovations made here shall be reaped by the whole world and humanity at a large.
Friends, today I want to bring to light another important topic on this forum. Some people are anxious that this uptake of technology will reduce employment, but the truth is that the realities of human life which haven’t been touched till today, are now opened up by Industry 4.0. This will change the nature of job to a large extent, and will create new opportunities. Preempting this reality, the Indian government is running programs such as Skill India Mission, Start Up India, Stand Up India, Atal Innovation Mission etc where the youth of our country can be prepared for the emerging techniques.
Friends, how the world will shape up over the next decade none of us can foresee. Nobody can even tell how far the fifth industrial revolution is. Well, the first three industrial revolution came at an interval of about 100 years, but we are also seeing that the fourth revolution has beckoned 30-40 years early. Seeing the last one or two decades, innumerable things were invented and they became extinct. Technology has squeezed time. The change from the Industry 4.0 to 5.0 will not wait for 100 years, so India is very serious about the industry 4.0. This is the time to get together with your optimal potential.
I also wish that in the coming months we will have an Industry 4.0 park in India also. I invoke all of you, the industries of the country, the state governments, civil society, and entrepreneurs, to join this revolution and work to realize this dream.
Friends, ours is a forward looking and open minded government. We are ready to develop any framework, protocol or policy that is in the interest of the New India, in the interest of the Indians. We are always open to receiving suggestions from you. We are determined to take our India to greater heights. We shall never let it down.
To conclude I once again wish the Center for Fourth Industrial Revolution all success in its future endeavors.
Thanks you.